Victim's widow threatens immolation

Anju from Bihar protests forcible occupation of her flat by a JD-U man.

The widow of a Mumbai train bombing victim has threatened to immolate herself in front of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to protest the alleged forcible occupation of her flat by an activist of the ruling Janata Dal-United.

The woman, Anju, lost her bank officer-husband, Krishna Kumar, in the July 11 Mumbai train bombings. Anju, a native of Bihar, said she would immolate herself before Nitish Kumar to protest the alleged forcible occupation of her flat by JD-U activist GL Jamuar.

"I will end my life if the police fails to vacate my flat from forcible occupation by the JD-U leader," said Anju, a mother of two who is currently staying with her parents here.

She said her father had met the chief minister during one of his janata darbar public meetings in this connection, but nothing happened. "My father pleaded with Nitish Kumar to help me and my two minor children," she said.

According to police, Anju's husband had purchased a flat in Ramayan apartments on Exhibition Road, a posh locality. The flat was rented to Jamuar. But after the bank officer's death, Jamuar stopped paying rent to her and refused to vacate the flat.

Anju said that she had been asked by her husband's bank to vacate the official residence allotted to him. "I have no place to live except this flat, but it has been forcibly occupied by Jamuar," she said.

Meanwhile, Bihar state JD-U president Lalan Singh has disowned Jamuar as a party leader. "No such person is in our party, he is falsely claiming to be so," Singh said.

However, opposition parties, including the Congress, have demanded immediate police action against the JD(U) man.